12 infants rescued in Amravati hospital fire

Twelve infants kept on ventilator support in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a government-run hospital here were rescued unhurt after a fire broke at Amravati.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has sought a report on the incident within 24 hours. In the initial investigation, it is coming to the fore that the fire broke out due to short circuit in the ventilator.

The incident took place at District Women’s Hospital in Amravati city of eastern Maharashtra at around 11 am. After this there was a stir. Immediately after this incident of fire, the entire team became active and started the rescue work and no child has been injured in this, said officials.

“The hospital staff noticed smoke coming out from the neonatal ICU. They immediately informed the fire brigade and rescued 12 newborn babies, who were kept there on ventilator support, in time and avoided a major tragedy,” a district official said. The fire tenders reached in time and doused the blaze, which broke out apparently due to a short circuit in one of the ventilators, further stated.

“No infant was injured in the incident,” the official said, adding that the rescued babies were shifted to a super speciality hospital and other facilities immediately. District collector Pavneet Kaur set up a committee headed by the district civil surgeon to investigate the incident, he said.